Poynter: BIG job cuts in media

 

The entrance to BuzzFeed in New York is seen on Nov. 19, 2020. Pulitzer prize winning digital media company BuzzFeed was one of many media companies to make cuts in 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

By: Angela Fu, Ren LaForme and Tom Jones

December 8, 2023

The news industry has seen 2,681 job cuts so far this year, according to a report by employment firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas released Thursday. That number includes broadcast, digital and print.

The news sector has lost more jobs this year through November than it did in all of 2022 or 2021. Media, of which news is considered a subset, has experienced 20,342 cuts, the highest year-to-date figure since 2020, Challenger reported.

Dozens of news outlets have executed layoffs this year, including The Washington Post, NPR, BuzzFeed News, Vox and The Texas Tribune. On Thursday alone, KCRW in Santa Monica, California, started offering buyouts, and Condé Nast announced layoffs at Wired, according to unions representing journalists in those newsrooms.

By Angela Fu, media business reporter

Spiritual, but NOT religious

 "...a distinct group of Americans now call themselves “spiritual but not religious.”

A Pew Research study published this week puts their numbers at 22 percent of surveyed Americans and attempts to describe them in greater detail. The study places people in the group according to their responses to this definition: “They think of themselves as spiritual or they consider spirituality very important in their lives, but they neither think of themselves as religious nor say religion is very important in their lives.”

Full story in The Washington Post HERE.

Attempted Arson at MLK House

 From a NY Times story:

"Bystanders stopped a 26-year-old woman from setting fire to the home where Martin Luther King Jr. was born after she poured gasoline on it, the authorities said."

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"The two-story Queen Anne-style house, built in 1895, was Dr. King’s home for the first 12 years of his life. The house is in Atlanta’s Auburn Avenue Historic District and is a federal landmark.

The interior of the house, which the National Park Service acquired in 2018, has been closed to the public since November for repairs and renovations. Its collection will be stored elsewhere until 2025, when it is expected to reopen, the National Park Service said."

FULL STORY HERE

The Governor's Tax Refunds

 The State makes it sound like your special one-time refund of $150 will be in your account any day now, but the reality is:

Return process times vary depending on many factors, including complexity of the return and Alabama's identity verification processes. Please allow eight to 12 weeks to receive your refund.

Not to Forget Today's Pearl Harbor Anniversary

 

125th Anniversary of the Montgomery Confederate Memorial

    Alabama's big confederate memorial on the state capitol building grounds was dedicated 125 years ago today... on December 7th in 1898---. 

   The cornerstone of the 88 foot tall memorial was dedicated by Jefferson Davis on April 29th, 1886.

 

 
     The confederate flags surrounding the memorial were removed, without notice, by Governor Robert Bentley, on June 24, 2015.

The brackets that used to hold the confederate flags are still in place.

                                         Just in case?????
 

  

   There was once a Confederate flag on top of  the Capitol Building. It was displayed for the first for some time in 1963 by Governor George Wallace, but it was removed by Governor Folsom during a major renovation of the building, on April 30th, 1993...shortly after he became Governor....and it was never returned.

Teens have finally caught up (or rather DOWN) with my math skills!

"Mathematics...skills among teenagers are in an unprecedented decline across dozens of countries – and school closures during the pandemic are only partly to be blamed...."

 "Mathematics...skills among teenagers are in an unprecedented decline across dozens of countries – and school closures during the pandemic are only partly to be blamed...."

(full story HERE)

Writing

 Here's an example of difficult to follow writing (In The Washington Post no less!).

A panel of federal judges is considering whether to temporarily block a Montgomery County school district decision to disallow opt-outs for LGBTQ+ books.

So wait, if they disallow them, does that mean....they can NOT decide? Or they can not ban them? Or they just can't refuse to take part in....

Later in the story, they try to explain:

Tuesday’s proceedings in Richmond were focused on reversing a decision from a lower court that denied the parents an injunction so that they could opt out of the LGBTQ+ storybooks while the case continued.

I give up.

Capri Season Ender

 

This Week At

The Capri Theatre

 

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 @ 7:00

(1946) Dir: Frank Capri Starring: James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Donna Reed 130mins DCP

ALMOST SOLD OUT - GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Enjoy the Annual Christmas Classic even more by helping the homeless.

Sponsored by the Old Cloverdale Association.

The Mid-Alabama Coalition for the Homeless is partnering with the Capri Theatre for the return of SOCKBALL FIGHT! Please bring a pair of clean, unused socks and join in our Sockball Fight before the show. All the socks will be collected by MACH and given to the homeless in the Montgomery area.

 

Online Ticket Sales

 

more information

Alabama Among 5 States with Lowest Life Expectancy

 

4. Alabama

Life Expectancy (2020): 73.2 years

Alabama ranks 4th on our list with a low life expectancy of 73.2 years according to the CDC. The leading causes of death in Alabama included heart disease, cancer, accidents, and Alzheimer’s in 2021.

(BTW--73.2 is almost exactly where I am now! Maybe I should start picketing against the Life Expectancy Data people?)

Century + Oldsters

 It is my imagination or has there been a string of well-known people who have died at the ages of 99-101?

The most recent is this morning, as reported by The New York Times:

Norman Lear, Whose Comedies Changed the Face of TV, Dies at 101

As the producer of “All in the Family” and many other shows, Mr. Lear demonstrated that it was possible to be topical, funny and immensely popular.

 

interfaith nativity exhibit

 

"interfaith" nativity exhibit....in Pike Road.

I've objected to the title of this event in previous years, and here it is again.

How can a christ-centered exhibit be "interfaith"????

About the GOP Debate in Alabama

 A late reply from Democratic students at the UA campus:

Tomorrow, we will hold a counter event from 6pm-9pm in ten Hoor 125 called We Dare Defend Our Rights. It will double both as an open bar style event where people can speak out and take action against the authoritarian actions of the Republican Party, and as a live analysis of the rights that each loser candidate on that stage wants to remove.

Here is a flyer for our counter event. Please let us know if you need anything else from us.

All the best,

Braden Vick, UACD Communications Director